Purpose/Scope

Applicability

Definitions

There are no definitions for this policy at this time.

Policy Procedures

Applying for Graduation

Graduation and officially receiving a degree are not automatic. Students must officially
notify the Office of Registration and Records of their intentions to graduate. Do
not assume that graduation is an automatic outcome of your having completed the minimum
requirements for a degree. The College won't take steps to graduate you until you
officially apply for graduation and there are several very good reasons for this.
It would be a massive task for the College to be continually scanning the records
of more than 9,000 students to ascertain when each will be ready to receive a degree.
Once a student has graduated with a baccalaureate degree, the undergraduate record
is closed. Therefore, a student cannot decide at some later date to add a minor or
any other program to it, or to improve the GPA by repeating a course, or to add a
teacher certification program to it. Also, once the degree is posted, a student is
ineligible for most any kind of financial aid that is offered for undergraduates.
If a student decides that s/he wants to take additional courses once the baccalaureate
degree has been posted, s/he will be required to reapply through the appropriate admissions
office prior to taking those courses. Students must be very sure about when their
degree is to be awarded to prevent any future problems.

Application for Graduation

Undergraduates with 84 completed credits and graduate students with 21 completed credits
are eligible to apply for graduation. Completing the online Application for Graduation
starts the graduation review process. The Application for Graduation can be found
on the Office of Registration and Records web site.

Undergraduate applications for graduation must be submitted at the beginning of the
student's senior year and for graduate applications, no later than mid-term of the
semester in which all requirements will have been met.

The online application asks the student to enter the way they wish their name to appear
on the diploma, their degree type, the major(s), minor(s), track/concentration area(s),
in which term the degree will be completed, if they plan to attend the commencement
ceremony, the address for diploma mailing and a telephone number where they can be
reached.

Completing the online application for graduation is the first step in the graduation
process and sets in motion other related processes involving the Commencement Office.
The application alerts the Office of Registration and Records of your plans to graduate
and initiates a review of your academic ￼￼record. It also alerts the Office of College
Events if you wish to attend the Commencement ceremony. Following the completion of
the degree review, the Office of Registration and Records notifies all students of
their degree status at their Brockport email address. In the event that the review
of your records is unfavorable, the email will provide a detailed list of the problems.
If you and your advisor have met regularly each semester to discuss your degree progress,
your chances of receiving one of these fairly unpopular notifications will be minimized.

Graduation

Degrees are officially awarded effective May, August, December and January. It is
important not to confuse "graduation" with "commencement." The College awards the
degree when the Office of Registration and Records has determined that all requirements
have been successfully completed at the end of the final semester and notes that fact
on the official college transcript. Only then has the student graduated.

Commencement

All potential degree candidates for May, August, December and January are eligible
to participate in the Commencement ceremony. While degrees are awarded for each of
these review periods, the College holds only one Commencement ceremony each year in
May. However, participation in the Commencement ceremony does not necessarily constitute graduation. Commencement is the public celebration of that accomplishment, but it is a ceremony,
and not the actual graduation itself.

Most students complete their degree requirements for May. If not, some are able to
finish them over the summer session and graduate in August. Similarly, students who
are unable to finish their requirements over the summer may be able to complete them
during the following fall semester and graduate in December or finish over the winter
session and graduate in January. A nominal commencement fee is charged to all students
within one year of scheduled graduation. This fee is mandatory and is not contingent
on student participation in Commencement ceremonies.

Diplomas

The diploma isn't the only source of legal proof that the student has completed a
degree. As soon as final grades have been posted and a final review of the student's
records has been completed to ensure that all requirements have been met, the Office
of Registration and Records will place that notation on the official transcript as
the real proof of the completion of the degree. It is important to understand that
an employer or graduate school will require an official transcript as the real proof
of degree completion, not the diploma. The official transcript will be ready as soon
as the Office of Registration and Records can complete the final review and post the
degree.

The diploma will not arrive at the address requested on the Application for Graduation
until several weeks after the degree has been posted on the transcript. It is important
to remember that a request for an address change on the College recordswill not affect the diploma address. If the diploma address needs to be changed, the student must request it specifically. To be awarded their diploma, students must be in good financial standing with the
College. If a hold exists on their account, the diploma will be held until the hold
has been cleared by the appropriate office. Once cleared, the student must notify
the Office of Registration and Records to release the diploma. The same is true for
releasing transcripts. Official transcripts will not be released by the Office of
Registration and Records until the student has cleared all holds on their account.

Confirming the Award of the Degree

Students should check to make certain that their final transcript shows the notation
of their degree award and that their diploma arrives. Occasionally, students walk
through the commencement ceremony and then, "forget" about requirements that are still
not met. They discover years later that they have not actually been awarded the degree
because they did not complete those remaining requirements.

Links to Related Procedures and Information

There are no links for this policy at this time.

Contact Information

Questions?

For questions regarding specifics on the commencement ceremony, contact the Commencement
Office at (585) 395-5648.

For questions regarding specifics on transcripts, applications for graduation and
diplomas contact the Office of Registration and Records at (585) 395-2531.

For questions regarding progress towards degree completion, students should contact
their advisor.